Where is Otto?

Title photo Otto in Berlin

PLEASE HELP US FIND OTTO

On our first day in Berlin in December 2011, the wind began to blow and blow. At first Otto laughed, and jumped and danced in the wind. But it got stronger and soon he had to grab on to a brick wall and his feet flew up. He shouted, Look at me! I am almost flying!

I got off four or five good photographs before he lost his grip and flew off in the wind. That was last week and we still haven’t found him. We leave Berlin in a few days and have been hoping to see him somewhere—perhaps caught in a tree or flying about with the big, black Berlin crows, but nothing.

PLEASE, if you see Otto flying about anywhere in the world, could you send us photos? Our email address: misterelectron@gmail.com.

THE RESPONSE has been wonderful! PLEASE SEE THE PHOTOGRAPHS DOWN BELOW OF OTTO AROUND THE WORLD! And join us! Please send your own sightings!

A photo to help you ID Otto

Followers

53. Stuck on You

Otto was discovered by his great aunt Kate visiting his desert family, the Saguaros. Here he was high-fiving, er, high-tenning, Papa Cactus. Or maybe just giving him a full body hug. Ouch! Just don’t give the rest of the family kisses, Otto.

52. Soldier Boy

Otto’s grandmother Nancy discovered Otto marching along in one of the quilts she made. Turns out Otto was a much-loved flag bearer back in American quilt history. Just don’t step too close to that horse, Otto.

51. Otto gets arty

Otto seems to have taken a break from his flying to appreciate art. A photographer spotted him at the opening of a new show at the Spanish Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao. Can you see him? He is the only one waving at the camera (lower right side, smiling and waving).

50. Helping hand in China

Otto wanted to help out in this muddy Chinese field, but at the same time he wanted to keep his shoes free of mud. The solution? Just pretend to help! (Andree’s great shot, once again!)

49. Climbing the Great Wall of China, Otto style

Otto arrived at the Great Wall of China hoping to see the impressive fighting Chinese army, but they were nowhere to be seen. Did he frighten them off? (photo by Andree B.W.)

48. The Red Lantern Thief strikes again

Wichitan Joe Walsh had no idea that the legendary Red Lantern Thief would actually strike during his visit to China. Our roving, talented and pretty photo correspondent Andree captured the instant. And both smiles.

47. Hanging by a thread

Otto’s first visit to India and he’s already hanging by a thread. Maria Nicanor sent this photograph of Calcutta traffic taken from inside what looks like a taxi And guess who is hanging from the taxi mirror? Otto!

46. Caribbean delight

Someone ought to tell Otto that you normally take your coat off before swimming. But he doesn’t seem to mind wearing coat, gloves, and shoes in the water. He still floats! Otto waves at us from on one of the prettiest beaches in the Carribbean seas, Varedero, Cuba.

45. Foggoneit!

Neither rain, nor snow nor the fogs of a foresty highway will keep Otto from flying. This mountain-like scene was actually taken on an island off the coast of Africa.

44. Don’t 'leave' us, Otto!

Otto shows friends Sam and Quincy his disappearing leaf trick in Wichita, Kansas. Otto, show me how you did that! (Photo thanks to Marc!)

43. Lady Leila and Otto

News report: Just seen off the Galician coast of Northern Spain: an exciting race between Lay Lady Leila and Atomic Otto to see who will break the sound barrior first in 2012.

42. An airy Otto smile for Dasha

Beautiful Dasha posing for a photograph in the Slovakian snow doesn’t realize that Otto has appeared in time to “woosh” a air smile for her in the background.

41. Not exactly rock climbing

Ana D. sent this photo of Otto in Salamanca, Spain, climbing up a wall. You couldn’t exaclty call it rock climbing, could you? Shell climbing? A new sport!

40. Cat’s eyes

39. Ottogulls come to feed

Sergio has no problem attracting Ottogulls to feed out of his hands by the sea in Galicia, Spain,—the secret?—dark chocolate! (Everyone knows that Ottogulls have a weakness for rich dark chocolate!)

38. Replacement for the Space Shuttle

It looks like the U.S. has found a much more advanced replacement for the space shuttle program: The all new Otto-shuttle! Faster, smarter and a lot more funny than the old shuttles. (He even transmits photographs, since this one came from Otto himself!)

37. Stealing the moonlight

Otto snatches the moon right out of the fingers of his cousin Laura in southeastern Nebraska.

36. Guiding little hand

Otto shows two Berber fishermen the way across a wide expanse of sand, south of Essaouira, Morocco.

35. Faster than a speeding skateboard

Otto is fast, but not faster than his cousin Emma in Alpedrete, Spain, who photographed him playfully stealing Jorge’s skateboard in midflight.

34. Gargoyle delight

Otto’s cousin Leila was in Paris when she spotted him playing with one of the city’s impressive Gargoyles. Don’t worry Gargoyle, Otto doesn’t bite. Does he?

33. Otto gets a free ride in Guatemala

Does Otto deserve a rest? He thinks so, after all that flying. Here he is getting a free ride in Antigua, Guatemala

32. A buzz-cut fly-over

31. Fishing with the Sri Lankans

David Taggart sent this in from Sri Lanka: Seems Otto enjoys just hanging out with the early morning fishermen.

30. A new shooting star

Otto’s aunt Anita writes from Madrid: I can’t believe it! I was gazing at the sky tonight when all of a sudden—Iook at what I saw speeding across the heavens! I quickly grabbed my camera and was able to captured this strange phenomena. –Hey, please ask my nephew what he was doing hanging onto a meteor in the middle of the night, especially with this cold weather!

29. Golden colors of the setting...Otto?

A wistful young couple admire the sunset, er, Ottoset, off the Spanish northern coast, not far from Getxo. Can he really outshine the sun?

28. Otto infestation on the beaches of Spain

A flock of seagulls? Jumping fish? Or simply an infestation of flying Ottos? All on a beautiful Basque beach in northern Spain.

27. Kicking the Otto habit

David gives Otto a kickstart onto his next destination…

26. Otto searches for Nemo

While everyone else is looking for Otto, Otto seems to be looking for Nemo! Erika snapped this photo off an exotic coast somewhere. Maybe just north of Africa, near the island of Aquariumlandia…

25. Horsing around under water

Horsefeathers! …that’s right, Aquariumlandia, just try Googling it. You may see Otto just horsing around on Google’s Street View, uh, Ocean View.

24. A fisherman’s dream catch in Pakistan

Even National Geographic’s star photographers are discovering unusual situations in their photographs. Ed Kashi discovered Otto caught in a Pakistani´s fishnet and sent us the image.

23. Slovakian snowscene with a…fleck?

Writer Anton Baer thought he had a fleck on his camera when he took this snow-bound scene, but on closer inspection discovered it was actually Otto, visiting Poprad and Sachticky in Slovakia…

22.Slovakian snowchild (Anton's fleck, enlarged)

…and here, the blown-up vesion of Anton’s photo. There is no mistaking Otto for a fleck of dust now.

21. Artist family catches glimpse of rare bird

Artists Paco, Meña and their son Juan were surprised by an Otto flyby in the mountains near Aracena, southern Spain.

20 Time-travel too? Otto in the 1970s

Evidently TIME-TRAVEL is no challenge for Otto. He surprisingly appeared in this 1977 photograph taken in Wichita, Kansas, as always, blowing in the wind.

19. Taking the ‘phants for a walk

Excellent Berlin dressmaker and occasional safari guide in Kenya Martina M discovered Cowboy Otto had lassoed himself an elephant herd. She sent us this fun image.

18. Or maybe they wish to fly?

And what happens when the elephants don't go where Otto wants to go? Again, Martina has captured nature at it's most fun.

17. Las Teresitas Beach, tree pause, Tenerife

A tourist in the Canary Islands discovered Otto catching his breath on a palm tree in Las Teresitas, Tenerife (just hanging around, I guess)…

16. Canary Island fly-by

… but once discovered, Otto fled—or rather flew away across the islands.

15. V-formation flying in the Alps

High-flying photographer Louis writes: “Spotted the bugger with his friends Uttu, Atta, Itti and Ette crossing the Alps high above Garmisch-Partenkirchen while trying to master a classical V-formation.”

14. The Japanese garden swim

Pawel-Wroo writes:

i found Otto in Japan

he went for a swim

look how he jumps

(thank you Ivanoff for the beautiful Saihouji-kokedera garden photo)

13. The Indianapolis 500, or was that the 501?

The amazing photographer JRF jr. discovered Otto battling it out with race car driver Alex Lloyd in the Indianapolis 500. (Lloyd is driving car 19 for the Boy Scouts of America). John didn’t know who won the duel as he couldn’t make it to the finish line before the two flying aces. Could Otto have won the race—by a nose?

12. Otto pets a bull

News flash out of southern Spain from photographer Miguel Martínez with two sightings of Otto: Matching his strength against a bull in Ronda…

11. Mar Menor sighting

…and nearly lost among the clouds off the coast of southern Spain, over the Mar Menor near Murcia.

10. Dropping into Nice, France

A tourist sent us this photo from a flight above Nice, France. He reported that the stowaway let himself drop into the sea before landing. We believe it must be Otto because of the shoes.

9. Nice kitty!

Our African correspondant Martina sent us this first sighting of Otto in Kenya, playing with a lion's tail. Careful Otto!

8. Otto high-fiving it in San Francisco

Rodrigo sent us this photo of himself doing a “high-five” with Otto in San Francisco. Rodrigo can really jump, can’t he? (Or was it an earthquake, perhaps, that sent him up to Otto’s flight level?)

7. Farm fresh chickens and Ottos

FARM FRESH CHICKEN AND BOY. An American farmer captured Otto in this photo piggybacking on a flying chicken, near Lincoln, Nebraska. (chicken-backing on a chicken??).

6. Bavarian Press Agency sighting

From the Bavarian Press Agency on Thursday 5th January: Unknown flying person has been seen during a fire drill in Kelheim, Bavaria today. One firefighter is reported to be in shock after witnessing the flyby.

5. Hungry Otto searches out a cake recipe

This just in! Otto seen in an unusual place. A chef writes: I found Otto on my computer......I think he was hungry and looking for a cake recipe.

4. The mad hatter

Lorenz writes: I lost my hat at the beach in Bilbao. Has anybody found it??

3. Hat thief!

Lorenz writes: I found out what happened with my hat!

2. Not a ghost in the cemetery

Vincent captured him flying through a cemetery in Derio, Spain. Vince writes: "I took this in Derio cemetery in November so it's not the first time is it? Have you thought of a leash?That's what English parents would do."

1. Georgia on my mind

Steve found him in Eurasia, just Northeast of Turkey. Steve writes: Right there, in the middle of Tbilisi, he seems to have blown all the way to Georgia.